NORTHBROOK, Ill., April 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas recently announced that Joseph Fleishaker, Ph.D., has been named vice president, Clinical Pharmacology and Exploratory Development. Fleishaker will be located at Astellas' global headquarters for the Medical and Development organization in Northbrook, Ill., USA, and will report to Dr. Bernie Zeiher, president, Development.

Fleishaker will oversee the Clinical Pharmacology and Exploratory Development function which includes all clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, modeling and simulation support for early as well as late-stage development programs. As a member of the Development Leadership Team, Fleishaker will play an instrumental role in leading this functional area to fully characterize clinical candidates to bring new innovations to patients. 

"Joe brings a wealth of experience to this important position at Astellas, including more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry leading clinical pharmacology and translational medicine research as well as a preclinical drug metabolism group," said Zeiher. "We are pleased Joe has accepted this role to help our organization continue to advance our capabilities in clinical pharmacology." 

Since joining Astellas in 2012, Fleishaker has made significant contributions to the growing and evolving neuroscience portfolio. Most recently at Astellas, he served as vice president and global therapeutic head of Neuroscience and previously held the role of executive director and project lead of Development, leading the CNS/Pain therapeutic area.

Fleishaker received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and his doctorate of philosophy degree in Pharmaceutical Science with a major area of concentration in pharmacokinetics/biopharmaceutics from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy in Lexington. 

About Astellas

Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.us. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160405/351809
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140416/84970

SOURCE Astellas